The present invention generally relates to systems for setting the gap between first and second objects movable relative to each other, particularly for gap setting systems for first and second objects which are pivotable relative to each other, and specifically for gap setting systems for the nip between first and second rollers.
In the food industry, a con, non procedure is to pass dough between first and second rollers which act on the dough for a desired result such as cutting shapes out of a sheet of dough. The spacing between the rollers or in other words the nip between the rollers is often critical in the operation. For example, in a cutting procedure, if the spacing is too great, cutting may not occur or may not occur to the desired thickness through the dough. Conversely, if the spacing is too small, excessive pressure will be placed on the knives and the anvil surfaces of the rollers causing excessive wear, increasing power requirements, reducing production, and producing other deficiencies. Prior practice in the food industry was to have one roller fixed and the other roller adjustable by means of slide rails. Adjustment of the spacing between the rollers was accomplished by having two tapered blocks per side that moved vertically toward or away from each other to change the horizontal center distance between the rollers. Replacing fabricated parts in this prior construction was extremely time consuming due to manufacturing tolerances, and often considerable shimming of parts was necessary. This was compounded with the frequency that replacement of the rollers occurred. In addition to replacement of rollers that need to be refurbished due to wear and tear, it is often desirable to allow the apparatus to perform different operations by replacing the rollers with ones performing other operations such as cutting different shapes out of a sheet of dough.
Thus, a need exists for a system to easily set the nip gap between rollers which is of simple design, which can be easily fabricated, which can be easily adjusted without requiring shims or the like, and which lends itself to roller replacement as needed or desired.